The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Surgical procedures can be performed on anatomies, such as the human anatomy for providing a therapy to the anatomy. Therapies can include implantation of prosthesis, applications of pharmaceutical or biological materials, and other therapies. To apply a therapy to the internal portions of the anatomy, however, an incision or axis portal is generally required to be formed in the anatomy.
The axis portal, such as an incision, can require healing and recovery time in addition to the reason for the application of the therapy. Therefore, it is desirable, to minimize the trauma produced by and the size of the axis portal. In reducing the size of the axis portal, however, the ability of a user, such as a surgeon, to effectively apply a therapy can be reduced. Therefore, it is desirable to provide a mechanism so that a surgeon can provide a therapy without minimization or reduction of effectiveness of the physical or in viewing the area to apply a therapy. Navigation of instruments relative to an anatomy can be used. The navigation can use acquired image data to confirm and position an instrument relative to the patient. The image data, if it is preacquired or acquired prior to positioning an instrument with an anatomy, is generally registered to the patient. The registration process, however, can require several steps and interaction of a user with a workstation or computer system. Therefore, it is desirable, to minimize the steps of a user to register image data to a patient and to allow the registration process to be efficient as possible.